Uttar Pradesh in sight of outright win against Baroda in Ranji Trophy

Vadodara: Opener Tanmay Srivastava made an unbeaten century before spearhead R P Singh struck twice at the fag end to put Uttar Pradesh in sight of an outright win against Baroda in their Group B Ranji Trophy match here on Saturday.

Chasing a stiff target of 369, Baroda, in their second innings, were reeling at five for two at stumps on the third day.

Before R P got into the act with two quick wickets late into the day`s play, Srivastava laid the foundation by remaining unbeaten on 124, and he was well supported by skipper Suresh Raina (65) and Mukul Dagar (63).

Srivastava hit 14 boundaries and a six while facing 224 balls at the Moti Bagh Stadium, which also saw Raina scoring a century in UP`s first innings.

Starting their second innings with a crucial 74-run lead behind them, the visitors started on a confident note, with the openers adding 111 runs for the first wicket to put their team in a strong position.

Mohammad Kaif did not last long but Raina along with Srivastava forged another century partnership to virtually knock Baroda out of the contest.

Raina struck seven fours while Dagar found the fence nine times.

After UP declared their innings at 294 for six, senior pacer R P, who grabbed fours wickets yesterday, once again made life difficult for the hosts dealing them two quick blows in the form of Saurabh Wakaskar and Aditya Waghmode.